The U.S. National Science Foundation Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF) supports research and education in the mathematical, scientific and technological foundations of computing, communication, hardware, software and emerging technologies such as quantum information science and bio-inspired systems.
The division's goal is to foster innovative and transformative research that contributes to the development of future computing and communication technologies.
CCF Core Programs
Algorithmic Foundations
The Algorithmic Foundations (AF) program supports projects advancing research and education in theoretical computer science. Projects should demonstrate algorithmic innovation and rigorous analysis. The goal of the program is to understand the fundamental limits of resource-bounded computation and to obtain algorithms operating within those limits.
To this end, AF seeks research resulting in theorems proving the efficacy and efficiency of algorithms as well as bounding the intrinsic difficulty of problems to determine measures of complexity in a variety of formal models of computation.
View Algorithmic Foundations funding opportunities.
Communications and Information Foundations
The Communications and Information Foundations (CIF) program supports transformative research that addresses the theoretical underpinnings and current and future enabling technologies for information acquisition, transmission and processing in communication and information networks.
As a result, CIF research and education projects strengthen the intellectual foundations of communications and information theory and signal processing in a variety of network types, such as sensor networks, wireless and multimedia networks, biological networks, and networks of quantum devices. Research outcomes can lead to more secure and reliable communications and advanced mathematical capabilities that are applicable throughout science and engineering.
View Communications and Information Foundations funding opportunities.
Foundations of Emerging Technologies
The Foundations of Emerging Technologies (FET) program aims to enable radical innovations across all areas traditionally supported by CCF, including the theory, algorithms, software, hardware and architecture of computing and communication systems, through research at the intersection of computing and biological systems, nanoscale science and engineering, quantum information science, and other nascent, yet promising, areas.
View Foundations of Emerging Technologies funding opportunities.
Software and Hardware Foundations
The Software and Hardware Foundations (SHF) program supports foundational research essential to advancing the capability of computing systems. The combined power of the software and hardware of these systems enables new, possibly unforeseen applications.
At the same time, new and emerging technologies require continued advances in software and hardware foundations. The focus of this program is on reasoning, comparing and establishing properties of existing and newly conceived software and hardware components, systems and other artifacts.
View Software and Hardware Foundations funding opportunities.
Contact CCF
General inquiries may be directed to CCF staff. View the CCF staff directory.
For media inquiries, please call (703) 292-7090 or email NSF Public Affairs at media@nsf.gov.